Executives

FCA's Ralph Gilles: Unleashing the 'inner racer'

In the Netflix documentary "Abstract: The Art of Design," FCA global design chief Ralph Gilles zips through the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in his custom Viper ACR. (NETFLIX)
May 22, 2017 05:00 AM

There's no disputing it -- Ralph Gilles is one of the coolest guys in the auto industry.

But when does Fiat Chrysler Auto-mobiles' global head of design achieve peak cool?

That's easy: when his eyes are peering out from deep within a racing helmet, tracking the line into the apex of his next hard turn on a track in a high-powered Viper ACR.

OEM02_305229986_H2_-1_THGGFGDCLTIV.jpg Gilles works on his Viper ACR -- the first one ever built -- in his garage at home. (NETFLIX)

I've ridden shotgun with Gilles twice -- the first time, at the Sonoma Raceway in 2013, after his beloved Viper was resurrected from the trash heap of Chrysler's 2009 bankruptcy and lovingly improved.

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